Coltrane (1957 album)

Coltrane is an album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released in 1957 on Prestige Records, catalogue 7105. The recordings took place at the studio of Rudy Van Gelder in Hackensack, New Jersey, and document Coltrane's first session as a leader. It has been reissued at times under the title of The First Trane!.

For the 1962 album of the same name by John Coltrane, see Coltrane (1962 album).

Coltrane
Studio album by
John Coltrane
ReleasedOctober 1957[1][2]
RecordedMay 31, 1957
StudioVan Gelder Studio, Hackensack
GenreHard bop
Length41:50
LabelPrestige
PRLP 7105
ProducerBob Weinstock
John Coltrane chronology
Coltrane
(1957)		 Blue Train
(1958)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Down Beat[3]
Allmusic [4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz[5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[6]

Background

As a result of his exposure as a member of the Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige Records owner and producer Bob Weinstock offered Coltrane a recording contract. Dated April 9, 1957, it stipulated three albums per year at $300 per album.[7] Coltrane had previously recorded as a sideman, and had co-led a session with Paul Quinichette released in 1959 as Cattin' with Coltrane and Quinichette, but never as sole bandleader.[8]

Coltrane had been fired by Davis in April 1957 for drug abuse, and went home to Philadelphia to clean himself out.[9] He returned to New York City for mid-May sessions with Prestige, this one taking place the day after Memorial Day. By the summer, Coltrane would be recording with Thelonious Monk and playing as a member of his quartet for the rest of the year.[10]

For his debut, Coltrane chose a tune by his friend Calvin Massey, in addition to three standards including the relatively obscure "Time Was". Sidemen included Paul Chambers and Red Garland from the Davis band, and Philadelphia colleagues Johnnie Splawn and Albert Heath.

The album was 20-bit-remastered for compact disc by Fantasy Records in 2001.

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Bakai"Calvin Massey8:44
2."Violets for Your Furs"Tom Adair, Matt Dennis6:18
3."Time Was"Gabriel Luna de la Fuente, Paz Miguel Prado, Bob Russell7:31
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Straight Street"John Coltrane6:21
2."While My Lady Sleeps"Gus Kahn, Bronislau Kaper4:44
3."Chronic Blues"John Coltrane8:12

Personnel

References
  1. Porter, Lewis [ed.] (2013). The John Coltrane Reference. New York/Abingdon: Routledge. p. 468. ISBN 1135112576.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  2. Editorial Staff, Cash Box (October 12, 1957). "October Album Releases" (PDF). The Cash Box. The Cash Box Publishing Co. Inc., NY. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  3. Down Beat: January 23, 1958 Vol. 25, No. 2
  4. Coltrane at AllMusic
  5. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 284. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  6. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 46. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  7. Ben Ratliff. Coltrane: The Story of A Sound. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. ISBN 978-0-374-12606-3, p. 34
  8. Lewis Porter. John Coltrane: His Life and Music. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1999. ISBN 0-472-10161-7, pp. 117-8.
  9. Ratliff, pp. 34-35.
  10. Porter, pp. 108-9.
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